Surreal doom maps?

[OceanMadman]

After playing stuff like Grove or "MyHouse.pk3" I've realized surreal maps are probably the ones I enjoy the most. There's lots to see and discover in those two maps, I love them. Anyway, can you give me any recommendations?

[Misty]

Unloved might be up to your valley. 

[Sonikkumania]

MAP16 : Nocturnal Abyss from Claustrophobia 1024 had somewhat surrealistic atmosphere imo.

[piesunisko]

A pretty surreal Everywhere at the end of time inspired doom wad, ending hits pretty hard in this one, i recommend going in blind

[Somniac]

This one was quite weird and interesting

[Geniraul]

 

 

[indigotyrian]

you might enjoy lilith.pk3!

[thelamp]

Akashic Migraine

[Azure_Horror]

- Some maps from Lost Civilization.

Spoiler

Definitely map 10 and map 19, but maybe some other can qualify too.

 

- Map 14 from 180 Minutes Pour Vivre, especially on UV. (Map 32 may also qualify, but mostly on HMP and UV. And on UV, it is very hard and unforgiving.)

 

- Magneta Spire WAD, at least in my opinion.

[Catpho]

Inevitable A.L.T. recommendation. Here's a write-up (scroll to bottom) and a few screens if you need extra convincing.

 

 

 

[Dexiaz]

3 hours ago, OceanMadman said:

Anyway, can you give me any recommendations?

 

I'll suggest 2 wads related to Silent Hill theme.

 

Rampage (Asylum escape) and Soundless Mound

 

"Unloved" is also a SH inspired megawad, but it's already suggested in this thread.

[Grazza]

I mentioned a few here.

[DNSKILL5]

This may not count but I always felt it was a bit surreal to enter a deathmatch server and nobody is there, and as soon as you’re about to exit to look for another match to join someone enters. It’s just a weird feeling to be in an empty arena and then not knowing what to expect from the stranger who entered. Will they be a worthy opponent or will you be their prey frag by frag until the fraglimit is reached? 

[BMWAG65321]

lilith.pk3 is precisely where you should start. Just know you MUST play using ZDoom 2.8.1 as it utilizes its rendering bugs.

Xaser's made some bangers: Sharp Things, dead.wire, dead.air and contributed to Syringe.

Gridlock64's MAP07: Middleway is an wonderfully abstract sprawl of Entryway's geometry.

I'd say half of Amorphous Euphoria's maps fit the description.

Happy Time Circus I & II have great surreal sections. [though I still haven't finished II]

DBP08: MINDBLOOD GENESIS and DBP16: Cyb's Freaky Colonoscopy are kind of surreal, but are wonderful executions of their wildly different themes.

 

After that, the only other wads that stand out on my recommendations are Beyond Reality and Strange Aeons, which are, respectively, bizarre and Lovecraftian.

[Sixty-nine]

uac military nightmare and imp encounter

[dististik]

Unwelcome by Plusw may be very up your alley. It's custom playpal with the vanilla colormaps alone make for some very surreal visuals and it does some really cool out of the box things with its level design.

[Geniraul]

And oh yeah, the surrealistic TCs:

 

 

 

 

and the Chex Quest trilogy of course.

[LadyMistDragon]

Sacrament. Although pretty much any Russian wad that doesn't go full slaughter has at least one major section that seems almost extradimensional.

 

There's also this more recent one. Cheating might be advised if you get stuck but it won't ruin anything as much as saving precious time (although maybe that shouldn't include invulnerability, to get more of the full effect.

[Geniraul]

Some more suggestions:

 

• The DIY megawad:

 

• Bathdoom by @Dieting Hippo:

 

• Star Trek - Doom Invasion by Thomas Spaulding & Grant Jacobs: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/themes/startrek/trkdom11

• Engineer Nukem by @mArt1And00m3r11339: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/d-f/engnukem

• The Warlock's Hearth by @Khorus: https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/v-z/warlh

Edited August 12, 2023 by Geniraul

[RastaManGames]

Rampage by @Lainos if my all-time favorite if you ask me.

It is not just surreal from the start, but it has that eerie & ominous "dimension shifts" like you can see in "Silent Hill" games.

Where real world is changing by something corrupted & twisted.

Story may be kinda edgy, but I can recommend this one.

You can combine it with human-like enemy pack (like Hell From Earth) to have unique experience.

[Arrowhead]

I recommend this trilogy by Eye del Cul.

 

Hachisch:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/g-i/hachisch

 

Peyote:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/p-r/peyote

 

Mescaline:

https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/mescalin

[Catpho]

@Geniraul I didn't make that :D The author of the wad was clearly written on the topic title ;)

[Geniraul]

I was about to correct that, thanks for the remark.

[ducon]

Impossible.wad or that map full of archies where you walk on the ceiling…

Edited March 25, 2023 by ducon

[OceanMadman]

Thanks everyone! I'll definetely try some of these.

[roadworx]

gentlemen...BEHOLD!

 

 

i'm still shocked that so few people know about this map. it's a half experimental, half shitpost wad that seems to be heavily rooted in early-to-mid 2010s linux drama

Edited March 27, 2023 by roadworx

[Gez]

On vendredi 24 mars 2023 at 4:57 PM, piesunisko said:

A pretty surreal Everywhere at the end of time inspired doom wad, ending hits pretty hard in this one, i recommend going in blind

A good choice to play right after MyHouse.wad.

[Celestin]

Hazmat Hazama (MAP29) from JPCP.

[TJG1289]

Surprised no one's mentioned Void yet. One of the earliest surreal maps I can think of. 

[smeghammer]

Shameless self-promotion! Try my 'Fuck You, Escher!' map: